Entries from Denali
May 13, 2023
Posted by: Mike Walter, Abby Westling, Emma Lyddan
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 7,800'
Saturday, May 13, 2023 - 8:12 pm PT
We carried loads of food and fuel up above Ski Hill today, and we're now back at camp. The weather wasn't terribly friendly today, with 10-20' visibility all day. Currently we're enjoying sunshine and beautiful views as the clouds finally dissipated. We're about to eat dinner and cash out for the night. Hopefully tomorrow we'll be able to move camp higher.
We will be sure to check in again soon.
May 13, 2023
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Henry Coppolillo, Tatum Whatford
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 7,800'
Saturday, May 13, 2023 - 7:03 pm PT
A gentle shushhhh of snow falling on the tent woke us this morning. We were the central theme in the snow globe as snow fell quietly and windlessly down. We lingered over coffee and bagel sandwiches letting the day progress. We really couldn't see much, but it was calm, warm enough, and we had a nice camp to return to, so we finally sorted some loads out, loaded packs and sleds, and turned uphill again to go cache. We walked through a milky white world for several hours before we decided that we had done enough, and further walking was going to involve a lot of feel and not much sight. So we dug quite a large hole and left our loads there under the snow to be retrieved in a few days time. The walk down went quite quickly, and after an hour we were back at camp where the clouds were lifting and the sun was blazing at max intensity. We are currently enjoying a short siesta, before a hearty dinner of reindeer gumbo. We plan to pack up camp tomorrow and trade up to an abode at 11,000'.
We'll be in touch.
May 13, 2023
Posted by: Mike Walter, Abby Westling, Emma Lyddan
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 7,800'
Our team is doing well, getting used to our new home on the glacier. Yesterday we moved from Basecamp to just shy of Ski Hill. It's a bit snowy this morning, but that shouldn't thwart our plans to carry a cache of supplies up to around 9,500'-10,000'.
We will keep you posted on our progress.
Thanks for checking in.
RMI Guide Mike Walter and team.
If anyone wants a good margarita while they’re up there, don’t hesitate to ask Brett!
Posted by: Brian W. on 5/13/2023 at 11:01 am
May 13, 2023
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Henry Coppolillo, Tatum Whatford
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 7,800'
The team did strong work today, shouldering a load out of base camp that would have made an ox shudder. Each climber probably had north of 100lbs of gear between pack and sled. We schussed down Heart Break Hill relatively smoothly, given the load and started the long, gradual accent of the Kahiltna. The weather was beyond perfect. Blue skies, warm, probably too warm for a bit, but then a gentle kiss of breeze cooled us down.
6 hours of that steady diesel truck burn brought us to our first real camp of the climb at the Base of Ski Hill. We spent the next couple hours establishing a routine that will become quite familiar: building tent platforms, erecting tents, digging kitchens, bathrooms, melting water, making dinner, and finding time for self-care.
Tomorrow, we will look to move a load uphill and cache before returning to this same camp. We will all be happy for lighter loads.
Wish us bon voyage.
Best to Pete + crew…Look forward to following along…Wshing success…From flatlands of Indiana.
Posted by: Walter Glover on 5/14/2023 at 10:07 am
bon voyage~
and well done team!
Posted by: Lyds on 5/13/2023 at 5:23 pm
May 12, 2023
Posted by: Pete Van Deventer, Henry Coppolillo, Tatum Whatford
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 7,300'
Our Denali escapade has commenced! Everyone arrived in Anchorage without incident and enjoyed a surprisingly smooth drive to Talkeetna. We spent yesterday crawling through all our gear, packing, repacking, wondering if we should bring more, less, or had forgotten something entirely and tearing it all apart to start again. Once we were sure, we weighed it all in for the planes and got sorted for the two Otters that would ferry us to base camp. We enjoyed a last dinner in Talkeetna, and some took two, three, or four showers to make up for the coming weeks and be sure to fly on smelling like roses.
We woke up this morning ready and hopeful to launch immediately, but it wasn't to be. Base camp reported that they were in a snow globe with 12 new inches overnight. We commenced the chill, sipped coffee, visited the myriad shops, ate lunch, and became somewhat convinced that we would HAVE to spend another night in a bed, have to take another shower, and have to eat a meal. Then, suddenly the RMI1 team got told to ready 5 and launched. Our hopes changed - but also Came with the realization that we would be landing quite late, and cooking dinner would be even later. So, we compromised. We would sleep on the ground and forego a shower if we could have one more mountain high pizza meal. We grabbed pizzas, trapped the stack together, and flew in with them in our lap. Our flight was stunning, with the long light of evening lighting the thousands of peaks in the Alaska range. We landed, set up our shelter, ate our pizza, and are settling in for our first night on the glacier.
We will be in touch tomorrow with more news. Stay tuned!
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Henry Coppolillo, Tatum Whatford, and Team
Thank you for the blog posts! We love hearing about what Bailey is experiencing. We praying for safety and an incredible experience for the whole team!
Posted by: Karlyn Sullivan on 5/14/2023 at 4:42 pm
Lap pizza is my new favorite Denali beta!! Hope it tastes even better from the glacier :D
Posted by: Corey on 5/12/2023 at 11:01 am
May 11, 2023
Posted by: Mike Walter, Abby Westling, Emma Lyddan
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 348'
Thursday, May 11, 2023 - 11:04 AM PT
Our team is caffeinated, fed, and ready to fly into Kahiltna Basecamp this morning. The morning weather isn't quite cooperating with us just yet, as Basecamp resembles a snow globe. Forecasts indicate an improving trend, so hopefully the clouds dissipate and allow us access today. We will keep you apprised of situation. Until then, it's coffee and standby mode!
RMI Guide Mike Walter
Wow! Town is quiet without all of you! The line at Conscious Coffee is much shorter! The Natives teach us about seeking wisdom in nature and being open to what she can teach us! Sending you positive vibes for your journey! Peace be with you! Keep going! ~Susan
Posted by: Susan Meskis on 5/14/2023 at 12:26 am
Go Scott go!!! We are all so proud!
Posted by: Kala Sheedy on 5/13/2023 at 1:14 pm
May 11, 2023
Posted by: Mike Walter, Abby Westling, Emma Lyddan
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 348'
Thursday, May 11, 2023 - 6:33 AM PT
Yesterday was spent milling around the K2 Aviation hangar in our climbing duds, hoping for the word to load the planes. But the weather never cleared, which kept the planes grounded. The forecast keeps trending better, so we'll try again today.
July 7, 2022
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli, Tatum Whatford, Seth Burns
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 348'
Thursday, July 7, 2022 - 11:52 am PT
We are calling ourselves lucky. Very lucky. The clouds moved away long enough for the glacier surface to freeze up for our nighttime ramble down the lower Kahiltna. We started walking down from 11,000 at 12:30 AM. The midnight sun was beautiful on the peaks around us as we cruised down in the cool shadows. The first hours, to the base of Ski Hill, were straightforward… then things got complicated. Lots and lots of crevasse crossings. But that is where the freeze helped immensely. It also didn’t hurt that other teams preceded us, breaking into holes and showing us where not to walk. In the end we made it through without any collapsed bridges. It took about seven hours to get to the airstrip. Half the team flew off in a K2 Otter just before 10 AM but before the plane could make it back for the other half, clouds rolled in. They didn’t roll away until mid afternoon, at which point the Otter swooped in to get the job done. We were the last team on Denali for the 2022 season… and then we were just a bunch more tourists in Talkeetna with funny tans. The team had a celebratory dinner at Mile High Pizza Pie, and then a late night Cornhole tournament in the beer garden of the Fairview Inn. A little live music and a nightcap (or two) put a finish on an excellent expedition. Thanks for following.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Photos courtesy of Dave Hahn
Congratulations to Jim Karmozyn and the entire team on a safe and successful climb and return.
Posted by: Ted Wioncek on 7/8/2022 at 12:17 pm
Woweeee! So proud of you all! What an awesome, incredible journey! We thoroughly enjoyed following along.
Welcome back!
Diana and Tom
Posted by: Diana Weiss on 7/7/2022 at 3:24 pm
July 6, 2022
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli, Tatum Whatford, Seth Burns
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 11,000'
Tuesday, July 5, 2022 - 8:25 pm PT
We pulled out of 14,000' at 10:30 this morning. Winds were still blowing up high, it certainly wouldn’t have been a summit day, but much of the low cloud had cleared out. The couple of hours down around Windy Corner, across the Polo Field, down Squirrel and Motorcycle Hills were the usual insane sled rodeo. The sleds don’t like being heavy or on a side hill and so they flip a lot and we all just try to keep smiling and pulling. We set up camp -possibly our last- in early afternoon and dove in for naps. We’ve just eaten dinner now and we’re napping once more. The plan is to get up in three hours (at 10 PM) and to set off around midnight toward the airstrip on the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna. We’re hoping the surface of the lower glacier freezes up hard and that our timing is just right for taking advantage of that freeze.
Best Regards
July 5, 2022
Posted by: Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli, Tatum Whatford, Seth Burns
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Denali
Elevation: 14,000'
Monday, July 4, 2022 - 9:46 pm PT
We woke to a calm but cloudy morning at 17,200'. There was light snow falling -some of the first snowflakes we’ve had on this trip. It wasn’t too hard to be out in it for packing though. We got it all done and got walking at noon. Many careful steps were taken along the crest of the West Buttress in the clouds. We got a little surprise when we started down the fixed lines at 16,200. There was an actual squall with snow blowing in our faces as we delicately stepped down and across crevasses. Things eased as we got to 14,000' at 3 PM and re-established camp. We then had a quiet afternoon and evening of resting, relaxing and eating, with everybody making mention of how much easier life at 14,000' was compared to 17,000'.
Tomorrow we’ll hope the clouds go elsewhere as we get down to 11,000' and get set for the big walk out the lower glacier.
Best Regards
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I’m with you, Mama Goltry! Looks like our daughter is the only female on the trip besides the guides. Quite an adventure but I am looking forward to the “we made the summit and are on our way down” post.
Posted by: Karlyn Sullivan on 5/14/2023 at 8:18 pm
From 94 degrees in Tucson, I am doing my best work with tequila to not think about hubby on a glacier in the freezing cold. But alas, there are not enough margaritas in the world to keep me from missing my mountain man. Reindeer gumbo is right up his alley. Keep on trekking! Enjoy the journey! Can’t wait to see the photos. Mama Goltry
Posted by: Tory Goltry on 5/13/2023 at 9:51 pm
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